Online Personals Watch: News on the Dating Industry and Business

New Service For Safer Online Dating

NEWSWIRE -- Jan 31 -- SafeCheckIn.com allows singles the security of having someone always waiting for him or her to return from any activity including meeting new people they have met online. SafeCheckIn.com is a service where individuals can put in information about themselves as well as information about any activity they are going to do. When they "check out" SafeCheckIn will monitor their absence until the member "checks in" again. If the member is overdue then SafeCheckIn will attempt to contact the member to update their status. If SafeCheckIn cannot reach the member, it contacts the people that the member has designated as emergency contacts. FULL ARTICLE @ NEWSWIRE

Hookups Get More Random, With Jangl On PlentyofFish

MASHABLE -- Jan 31 -- The very successful , "no-gimmicks" dating site run by one man in his apartment is not known for its great user interface design, or even for its feature set. So it's a noteworthy thing when we find out that PlentyofFish is the latest to integrate Jangl VoIP services in order to offer click-to-call options for its dating users. FULL ARTICLE @ MASHABLE

Jangl Powering Anonymous Phone Sex On PlentyOfFish

TECH CRUNCH -- Jan 31 -- When it comes to connecting with new friends safely and privately, Jangl fits the bill. The "Social Communications Widget" lets you make calls, send SMSs, and leave voice mails without exposing anyone's phone number through a simple widget. Now they've forged a deal to be featured on the maverick of dating sites, PlentyOfFish. PlentyOfFish is like every other dating site you've heard of, but free. Free has actually paid off pretty well for founder Markus Frind, who runs the site from his Vancouver apartment and takes in over $10 million a year in advertising. Comscore ranked the site the number one dating site in December 2007, with an average of 1.3 billion page views a month (70,000 sessions and 3 million page views an hour). FULL ARTICLE @ TECH CRUNCH

Dating Software - Trends and Industry Direction Panel

Panel Discussion with Gary Taylor of White Label Dating, Tim Reese of World Dating Partners and Elena Kolyasnikova of The Pilot Group

Gay Dating Services Industry

Presentation by Patrick Perrine, Founder MyPartner.com

All's Fair in Love and Search Marketing

Presentation by Abe Mezrich of Didit

Where's Dating 2.0? Innovations in the Online Dating Industry

Presentation by Sam Yagan (CEO & Co-Founder) OKCupid

Jangl Partners with Plentyoffish.com

PRESS RELEASE -- Jan 31 --  Jangl, the company connecting millions of online profiles and mobile phones, safely and privately, has teamed with the world's largest free online dating site, Plentyoffish.com, to let online daters get to know each other via text messages, phone calls and voicemail -- all without sharing their real numbers. In less than 15 months, Jangl® has teamed with popular social web communities like Facebook, Bebo, Match.com, Friendster, AdultFriendFinder, Tagged and Fubar. Plentyoffish.com has witnessed extraordinary recent growth, serving 1.2 billion page views in December 2007 alone. According to comScore Media Metrix, it is the most visited dating site in the U.K. and Canada, and the second most visited in the U.S. FULL ARTICLE @ AD-HOC NEWS

Improving Conversions With Landing Page Testing

Presentation by Tim Ash, CEO of Site Turners

Media Metrix and Market Analysis for Internet Dating

Presentation by Julie Upward  (Director of Client Service) ComScore

Meetic Finds A Match In Ethoca

PR WEB -- Jan 31 -- Meetic joined Ethoca's global network of businesses aiming to expand their customer base and increase profits. Meetic selected Ethoca's collaborative fraud management solution to help it profit from better risk profiling, and offer alternative payment methods to high risk customers. Ethoca enables Meetic to generate higher profits from a precise ability to discriminate between low, medium and high risk customers. Rather than refuse service to higher risk customers, Meetic intends to offer alternative payment options that reduce or eliminate the risk. FULL ARTICLE @ PR WEB

Audacity of Hope - Why Pay Clients Quit

Presentation by Evan Marc Katz -(Chief Executive Idea Guy) Thought-rocket.com

White Label Dating Presentation

State of Internet Dating Industry

Presentation by Mark Brooks, Editor, Online Personals Watch

Why Social Networking Is Not a Threat to the Online Dating Model

Elizabeth Wasserman, Co-Founder - Mate1.com

iDate2008 Exceeds Previous Attendance Records

NEWSWIRE -- Jan 30 -- The Internet Dating Conference in Miami (iDate2008) will be the largest event ever. Attending the event will be executives from the following industries: Online Dating, Venture & Enterprise Capital, Social Networking, Software, Mobile Telecommunications, Online Marketing, Matchmakers, Alternative Payment Processing, Background Screening, Affiliate Programs and others. Speakers at the event include executives from: Penthouse, White Label Dating, Sinofriends, MeetMoi, Jangl, Mary.com, Cupid's Coach, and the Opium Group, among others. The event is still open for registration, however, delegates need to register for the event on-site. FULL ARTICLE @ NEWSWIRE

Live Blogging iDate

OPW -- We'll be live-blogging a number of sessions on Thursday and Friday, btw.  We're using CoveritLive.com so you'll be able to comment and IM the blogger, and answer polls live. 

Valentine's Day Crash Course

PR NEWSWIRE -- Jan 29 -- Valentine's Day is fast approaching. Paul A. Falzone, CEO of The Right One and Together Dating, offers advice for how to find Valentine's Day bliss.
- Join a singles group.
- Tell all of your friends and family you are interested in meeting someone.
- Post a profile on an online dating site.
- Get out.
- Have a singles party.
- Smile.
"Love is just around the corner, but you have to be ready for it. But it won't happen in a closet. You have to be out in the world," said Falzone.
FULL ARTICLE @ PR NEWSWIRE

SiteTuners To Discuss Landing Page Testing

BUSINESS WIRE -- Jan 29 -- Tim Ash, president of SiteTuners, will provide a presentation on Improving Internet Dating Conversions with Landing Page Testing at the Internet Dating Conference taking place on January 31-February 1, 2008 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.  By improving conversion rate, Internet dating websites can lower its CPA and become a super affiliate magnet. These dating sites can quickly grow their program and its affiliates will make a lot more money without having to raise the payout structure. FULL ARTICLE @ BUSINESS WIRE

Countdown To Valentine's Day: A New Take On Dating

PR NEWSWIRE -- Jan 27 -- Three weeks until Valentine's Day, gay male relationship expert and founder of myPartner.com, Patrick Perrine, gives sure fire tips for meeting new people:
Attend Events
- Don't Move Too Fast - True love is first a meeting of minds; the bodies connect later.
- Dress For Success
- Pretend you're famous.
- Say Hello and Shut Up - "A bore is someone who keeps talking after I have something to say."
- Be a Good Listener
"Follow these steps," says Perrine, "and you're on your way to a year- round Valentine's Day."
FULL ARTICLE @ SAN FRANCISCO BUSINESS TIMES